Heartless
by FallenAngelKate
Summary: Kirin Makoto never asked to be best friends with Gaara but due to their friendship, she gets kicked out of the sand village. Being 7, she's not sure what to do. She doesn't have family left. What happens when two members of the fearsome Akatsuki find her?
1. Getting Kicked Out

Chapter 1: Getting Kicked Out

_Kirin Makoto was sitting with Gaara outside. Both were smiling and talking about the future, and how all of those kids were scared for no reason. She giggled at something her best friend said, the Kazekage stared on in disgust. How was he supposed to turn Gaara into the weapon Sunagakure needed if he was too busy getting close with this girl. This girl whose family members were all dead anyways. He glanced around the room before making a decision. No one would miss this little girl anyway. He walked out and told Gaara dinner was ready and as Kirin got ready to walk away he grabbed her arm lightly. "Kirin, I need to talk to you for a moment, alright?" She bowed politely and nodded._

_She followed the Kazekage and frowned when she noticed they were by the gate. "Lord Kazekage?" She asked quietly. He picked her up and walked out of the village covering her eyes as they went. As soon as he couldn't see the gate he dropped her on her butt and poofed away._

_Kirin looked around and felt tears come to her eyes. She felt unwanted and alone. _

It had been a few hours since the Kazekage left her behind. She heard voices as two figures approached. When they were close enough, she noticed the taller one had blue skin and resembled a shark. He had something that kind of looked like a sword on his back. The shorter one had long black hair, black eyes, a leaf headband with a scratch through it, and lines under his eyes. They both wore the same kind of robe, it had red clouds on a black background.

"Well, well, well what do we have here?" The tall one asked in a raspy voice. Kirin looked up at him, and shocked him by smiling.

"You're blue," She pointed out with a smile. "Blue is one of my favorite colors," She exclaimed as he looked shocked. His companion was also shocked, but hid it well.

"What are you doing out here all alone?" The shark asked. She looked down at her shoes, a sad look crossing her features.

"I must have done something bad," She whispered. "Because he brought me out here and then left," She glanced back up. The two looked at her puzzled. "I mean he is the Kazekage."

"The kazekage brought you out here?" The shorter one finally spoke up. He had a calm, cool voice. Kirin nodded once. "Are your parents around somewhere?" He asked feeling the supposedly cold heart in his chest ache. She shook her head looking at her shoes.

"A snake man named Orochimaru killed them and my older brother Ryo," She looked up with heartache and pain in her eyes. "A year ago," The two men nodded.

"And what is your name, little girl?" The blue one asked. She glanced up and let out a soft sigh.

"Kirin Makoto. What about you two?" She asked. They were both shocked by the outgoingness she showed.

"My name is Itachi and this is Kisame," The shorter one explained gesturing to himself and then the blue one. Kirin nodded with a smile. "Shouldn't you be scared. I'm a murderer and he kills people as well," Itachi stated coolly. He was beyond confused about the little girl's smile.

"I don't know how to explain it, but I think you had a reason for it," She stated softly taking a step closer to the duo. "You don't seem as evil as you're trying to look," She added at the end.

"What should we do Itachi? If we leave her out here, she will die," Kisame stated quietly. He was only stating the cold, hard truth. No ninja would hold back from killing a seven year old. He also had taken a liking to the fact that she had not screamed in fear when she saw his face. Itachi frowned in thought before glancing down at the girl in front of them.

Kirin was looking up at both of them with bright eyes and Itachi sighed again. He wasn't sure the leader would appreciate him bringing a little girl back to the base. But he also didn't want to leave her out here in the harsh environment alone. He glanced down at her and took in her appearance. She was in black Capri pants, and a purple t-shirt. She had on black ninja sandals and a small bag near her. She had brown hair that went to about the middle of her back and a pair of bright blue eyes. "Would you like to come with us?" Her eyes widened, and he took note of the delight behind them.

"Really?" Itachi nodded in response and she let out a small squeal. She threw her arms around his legs and hugs him tight, reminding him of Sasuke slightly. He let out a sigh as she looked up at him. "Thank you Itachi, I promise you won't regret this," She smiled happily.

Kisame smirked as Kirin took Itachi's hand. "This is definitely the start of something. Don't know what yet, but I hope the leader says we can keep her," He grinned showing off his pointy teeth, which Kirin just giggled at.

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Alright so this idea came to me while I was talking with my nephew. I don't own anything other than the plot and the other characters. Thank you for reading and please tell me what you think. I'm hoping to add more soon =)


	2. Introductions

A.N: Alright, so this story is going to have a few parts that jump around. The next few chapters should stay pretty steady. But the first chapter takes place when Kirin was 7 and this one is when she's 12-13. Also, flashbacks will be in italics. There will be another small author's note on the bottom, thanks for reading.

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Chapter 2 Meeting the Akatsuki

_Night had fallen and Kirin was slowing down slightly. Itachi and Kisame shared a glance. Itachi sighed when Kisame gestured to Samehada. "Kirin, we need to make it to our destination by noon tomorrow. How about I let you ride on my back the rest of the way," He stated softly while turning to her. She agreed without an argument and climbed onto Itachi's back when he came down to her level. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his right shoulder. He smiled slightly as he was reminded of Sasuke, the smile vanished within a minute._

_The former ANBU captain let out a sigh as he moved forward. Kisame glanced at his teammate, and then to the small child who had a tight hold on his neck. They had only been working together for a few months, but the man was sure that the little girl would end up being a key member of their 'family.' They arrived at their current hideout to find Zetsu was the only one awake._

"_You brought a little stow-a-way," He sounded slightly amused._

"_It's a long story. One we'll discuss tomorrow," Itachi stated quietly as Kisame nodded. Zetsu chuckled and shook his head._

"_Good luck dealing with Pein," The light half said. The dark half stayed quiet but both men knew it was probably itching to say something rude. They nodded and headed to their rooms, silently agreeing that Kirin would stay in Itachi's room. The Uchiha laid her on his bed and covered her with the blanket. He pulled out a sleeping bag and set it up on the floor. Within a few minutes of laying down, he fell asleep._

_The next morning Itachi woke up to Kirin pulling on his sleeve slightly. When he looked over he was met with wide blue eyes. "Where are we?" She whispered quietly. Itachi chuckled quietly as he sat up. She latched onto him and stared into his eyes waiting patiently for the answer._

"_We're at my current home… But you need to meet someone before we can officially let you stay with us," Kirin's eyes widened at his answer. She bit her lip nervously as Itachi unlatched her. "Come on," He stated quietly standing up. Kirin followed behind him in silence._

Kirin had followed Itachi and Kisame to the main room, where Pain stood talking with Zetsu. It had been really intimidating and Pain questioned her for what seemed like hours. Thankfully, he said with enough training, she could be useful. There was also something else behind it though at the time she had no idea what. She hadn't been able to figure it out until later when Konan and Pain explained about their past. So she figured another reason she was allowed to stay was that they felt sympathy towards her. Either way she was very grateful for it.

Currently, she was on a mission with Deidara, Itachi and Kisame. Deidara and Itachi were masking their chakra and appearances, and posing as her teammates for the Chunnin exams. Kisame was also masking his chakra and appearance and posing as their sensei. The reason was made very clear, they were to try and find out if any Jinchuriki hosts were present. They had heard no one from the hidden mist would be taking part in the Chunnin exams and therefore had decided to pretend to be Genin from that village. They were currently on their way to the village.

"So how should we approach this?" Kirin asked quietly. Itachi and Deidara glanced at her. "I mean do we really 'try' or do we 'fail' just to gauge other ninjas' skills and chakra?"

"We'll figure it out later," Kisame waved it off like it was nothing. Kirin let out a soft sigh and nodded.

"Niisan, are we almost there?" She asked Itachi quietly. She had never really been near the Leaf village on a mission. He nodded as the village gate came into view. As the three approached they took note of what was going on at the moment. A black haired boy in a tree looked startled by the sudden appearance of a red haired boy hanging off of the same branch to the right of him. Itachi's eyes stayed emotionless, but Kirin felt her fists clench. She wasn't sure why yet, but someone felt familiar and it wasn't Itachi's brother.

She took a closer look at who was around. There was Sasuke's brother, the red head, three small children, a pink haired girl, a blonde haired boy who appeared to have 'whiskers', a tall blonde girl and another boy who was in a black suit of sorts. The red head threatened the blonde girl and the one in a suit. The three were about to continue on when the pink girl spoke up. "You may be allies with the Leaf, but it's forbidden for shinobi from other villages to enter each other's villages without permission. State your purpose. Depending on it we may not be able to let you go."

The blonde spoke up next explaining about the Chunnin exams. The young Uchiha soon after that, asked for the red head's name. "Gaara no Sabaku," That's when it finally hit Kirin. Her fists clenched tighter and she stared at the ground. It was his father that made her homeless. She felt a hand on her back and glanced up to see Deidara looking down at her with a worried look on his face. She gave a quick smile and loosened her fists.

"I'm fine," She told him. It would be so much more comforting if he actually looked like himself. But Deidara, Itachi and Kisame were probably all in the bingo book. Even she had to change her appearance a little bit. But because she has never really been seen associating with them, not many even know she is a part of the Akatsuki. The group took a step closer as Gaara asked for Sasuke's name as well. With that said the Sand shinobi walked away leaving Team 7's eyes to drift towards the 'Mist' Shinobi.

"And what are you four here for?" The pink girl asked in a rude tone.

Kirin growled slightly. "Is it really any of your business? You don't look like gate security," Itachi and Deidara chuckled softly at Kirin's actions. "And we're here for the Chunnin exams as well. We like to get here early to check out the competition," She stated coldly.

"Please excuse my student," Kisame stated in a voice that sounded nothing like him. "She's a bit cold hearted when it comes to other villages," Kirin nudged Itachi.

"Niisan," She gestured to some nearby sound ninja scoping them out. He nodded and Sakura stared at the two with widened eyes.

"You're brother and sister?" Kirin rolled her eyes and nodded at the annoying ninja.

"Sakura, I don't think it's wise to be annoying ninja from other villages," Sasuke stated as Naruto growled at him. "Think about it Naruto, they may hold it against us later," He stated coolly. Kirin rolled her eyes as Deidara laughed quietly.

"We atleast have the right to know your name," Sakura scowled at Kirin.

"Keiko Maki," She stated coolly. "And that's all you're getting. Let's go," She stated towards her sensei. Team 7 watched the four head deeper into the village.

"This is going to be interesting," Sasuke stated quietly.

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A.n: Thanks for reading. There won't be any age skipping until later. Thank you for reading and please review.

Kate


	3. Chunnin Exams First Test

Chapter 3

When Kirin, Itachi and Deidara arrived at the building, the first thing they noticed was people gathered around a door that was seemingly 301, but there were two people blocking the way. "This is only the second floor. Must be a genjutsu," Kirin stated before glancing at Deidara and Itachi to confirm.

"Yeah it is," Deidara stated as Sasuke told the two to release the genjutsu and let them through. One then went to attack Sasuke and he followed suit just to be stopped by a creepy, bushy browed boy in a green jumpsuit. We were supposed to meet the people at four, it was currently three forty-five.

"We should head up to the room," Itachi stated quietly. Kirin nodded and followed Dei and Itachi towards the third floor. They got there and made their way towards a side of the room, and kept the door within sight. They watched as Naruto's team came in and a little bit of chaos ensued between what appeared to be the rookie genin of the village. A white haired boy with glasses walked up and told them they should keep it down, he said his name was Kabuto.

Kabuto had the nine look behind them, and they took note of some of the ninja watching them. Kabuto then pulled out a deck of what looked like cards. He pulled out two specific ones, and Kirin let out a breath. She glanced around and took note of where the Sand ninja from earlier were. She glanced away as feelings came to her. She didn't need this right now, she was on a mission. Her gaze was placed back on the leaf Genin when the loud mouth, Naruto, yelled out.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I won't lose to you bastards. You got that?" After getting the entire room's attention… The sound ninja were muttering to each other and within a few seconds they had closed in on Kabuto. Kabuto had appeared to have dodged the attack but his glasses broke, and he fell to the floor and vomited. Kirin glanced at Itachi waiting for him to explain like he usually does.

"That guy's arm… That metal thing on it. The attack definitely had something to do with sound," Itachi explained quietly. Kirin closed her eyes in thought.

"So the sound waves, they broke Kabuto's glasses?" Itachi nodded with a slight smile that encouraged her to go on. "Oh, and equilibrium and other things in the brain can be affected by sound waves," She stated understanding it much better now. Deidara glanced over at them and frowned.

"This exam should definitely be interesting then," Kirin and Itachi nodded as the examiner came in with a group of ninja behind him. He told everyone to quiet down. He also went on to introduce himself as Ibiki Morino. Itachi rolled his eyes, obviously knowing something about this one. Ibiki told off the sound ninja and then went on to say there would be no killing, and that if they wanted to fight they needed the examiner's permission.

He then explained that we would take a paper tab with a number, and that would decide where we would sit. He then said the exams would be handed out. Deidara snickered at Naruto's reaction to the fact that it was a paper test. After handing out the tabs, and getting their seats, Ibiki spoke again. He stated he would explain the rules and no questions would be allowed. He explained that we would all start out with ten points, and if we missed questions, we'd lose a point per question. There were ten questions on the test. We were going to be graded as a team.

I glanced at Itachi from my spot and he nodded his head when he saw the skeptical look in my eye. This was all talk, there was something else going on. Ibiki went on to say that the third rule, was that anyone caught cheating would lose 2 points for each time they were caught. The genin that lost all their points would be asked to leave. He was making a big deal about cheating. _He wants us to cheat._ Kirin thought to herself. The last rule was that if any member of the team lost all of the initial points, the whole team would be failed. Sakura yelled out in slight anger. Ibiki announced that we would get an hour, and then the test began.

The questions were ridiculously hard, and Kirin let out a sigh. She wished Itachi wasn't seated somewhere behind her. It would also help if she knew where Deidara was. Kirin closed her eyes and tried to think of the easiest way to cheat. She glanced around discreetly and noticed that the loud mouth rookie, Kiba, had his dog muttering to him. The kid on his team with shades was watching a bee. Gaara's sand began to move and Kirin could see chakra wires and traced it back to one of the other leaf genin. She was adjusting a mirror that was set up on the ceiling. The sound guy seemed to be listening to pencil strokes. The infamous Neji Hyuuga activated his kekke genkai. Sasuke had activated his Sharingan, and Kirin had a feeling that Itachi had too.

She gasped as she noticed Gaara's sand form an eye above the paper belonging to the guy next to her. She shook off her shock and just started jotting down the answers she knew. She glanced up as Morino announced that it was now time for the tenth question. He went on to explain that if the genin didn't want to take it, they could leave by losing all ten points. He then said that if they were to take it, and answer incorrectly, they'd never have the chance to become a Chunnin again.

"Those who aren't confident can choose not to take it, and try again next year," Ibiki stated after Kiba had burst out saying how was that a possibility when there were people who had taken it more than once. Ibiki looked around and asked who wanted out. A bunch of people began to raise their hands. Kirin kept her hand down, this exam didn't mean much considering the four were pretending to be someone they were not. Naruto raised his hand just to slam it down.

"Don't underestimate me! I won't run," He stated with a determined look on his face.

After he waved off Ibiki's last warning, no one else raised their hand. This was going to be an interesting exam.

"Now to everyone still in the room, congratulations, you've passed the first exam," Ibiki smiled at the entire room. Ibiki then went on to explain that the whole first test was made for cheating and that it's important to know how to gather information. He then went on to say the second part, 'question 10' was the true test. To take it was a leap of faith. After explaining that making that decision was important and blabbing on for awhile, a window broke and four kunai had attached to the ceiling and floor with a banner. A strange brown haired woman came in and stated it was no time to be celebrating. Kirin glanced at Itachi to see him shaking his head slightly.

She giggled realizing he must know something that she didn't. Anko Mitarashi, stated she would cut the teams in half and then explain about the second test after the genin changed locations. When they came to a fenced off forest area, Anko spoke up in a sadistic tone.

"Welcome to training area 44 also known as the forest of death," She had an evil smirk upon her face.

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A/N: Alright so the next few chapters are going to follow the plot with the forest of death and such. Even though I am following plot for a lot of it, there are going to be things that I do completely on my own... Kind of like Kirin's flashbacks about what's happened and such. Anyway, sorry for the late upload but between homework, work, and other stuff I've been all over the place. Thanks for reading, please review. They motivate me so much better/faster than other things. =)

Kate


	4. Chunin Exams Second Test

Ch. 4

Anko went on to hand out consent forms, so she wouldn't be held responsible if the participants died in this portion of the exam. Before they were allowed to sign them, she explained the second exam, ultimate survival. She then went on to list things that would get them disqualified. Not making it to the tower with two scrolls in time, losing a teammate, no giving up in the middle, and finally, no looking in the scrolls. She finished her explanation and told the teams to exchange their consent forms for a scroll.

"A final word of advice, don't die," Anko stated in her bitter sweet voice. Kirin, Itachi, and Deidara walked slowly toward the booth. After getting a scroll, they were told they would begin at gate thirty-two. Within thirty minutes, the test had begun.

Within a few minutes Kirin, Itachi and Deidara were far enough in that they had decided to come up with a plan. "So how should we do this? Quick and easy? Or the nice way," She asked as she looked between the two. She knew if Itachi could help it, he wouldn't want to kill anyone… But she also knew he was good with it if it meant no chance of being compromised.

"Well, the quick and easy way would be the best way to make sure we aren't found out, hmm," Deidara stated quietly. Itachi nodded with a thoughtful face on.

"And if we know which teammate has their scroll, and which scroll… Only one person needs to die," Kirin spoke softly, and more towards Itachi. He nodded and the three split up. Kirin bit her lip as she looked around. She hadn't admitted it to Itachi or Deidara, but the chakra around the earlier grass ninja… The one with the creepy tongue seemed familiar. She shivered and continued until she sensed another's chakra. She'd been so wrapped up in her own thoughts…

Kirin turned around after pulling out a kunai to come face to face with one of the grass ninja from earlier, she was relieved that it wasn't the one with the long tongue. It was the one who was wearing a strange mask. He had an evil smirk on his face and Kirin's head was all over the place.

Meanwhile, Itachi and Deidara had met back up when they sensed a familiar chakra. "I wonder if she knows that bastard is around somewhere," Deidara mumbled. "We should," Itachi held up his hand.

"It's not part of the mission, plus it may affect her bad. It would be safest to just continue with the mission… Plus I think it will keep her safer," Itachi stated quietly. He frowned as a bad feeling washed over him. "Let's go find Kirin," He stated quietly. Deidara nodded in agreement and they were gone within a second.

Kirin was fighting the grass ninja, and she could sense someone watching as they fought. When she looked up she was met with brown eyes. A girl with buns on her head, and a leaf headband around her forehead was standing there. Kirin winced as she fell awkwardly on her ankle. She covered up her head with her arms as she continued falling backwards. The ninja came closer asking for her team's scrolls. The ninja had a smirk on his face and pulled a kunai out. "You have such a pretty face, it would be a shame if it were to get chopped up," She looked up wide-eyed. Kirin sighed and was going to start making hand signs when she heard a cold, disguised voice speak up.

"It would be a shame if you didn't make it out of this forest alive," She looked over to see Itachi glaring the person down with Deidara next to him.

"Niisan," Kirin let out a small, relieved sigh. Itachi was between her and the opponent within a couple of seconds.

"It was foolish of you to drop your guard Keiko," He stated quietly. She nodded and let Deidara help her up. She leaned against him as Itachi fended off the opponent, successfully gaining the scroll he had on him. He knocked the guy out and was happy that since they hadn't revealed anything they could just leave the guy knocked out. "Let's head for the tower," Kirin nodded and shivered slightly as she heard a distant scream.

It was nearing the morning of the next day as they approached the tower. Although Kirin had healed her ankle she leaned onto Itachi to keep up the appearance that the other kunoichi must have seen. She shivered as she felt a large, ominous amount of chakra. It wasn't close, but it was dark enough to frighten her a little bit. The three walked into the tower and noticed that the Sand ninja were already there.

The three had figured out the scrolls and were now standing in a large room with the other teams. Kirin glanced to her right and took note of the other teams. The closest team was one from Konoha, according to what she had heard, it was one of their rookie teams. She glanced over to where the senseis stood and bit her lip until her eyes landed on Kisame's disguised form. She let out a deep breath and felt Itachi's hand on her shoulder. Kirin glanced back at the senseis and noticed them all looking their teams over. The third Hokage then went on to explain the reasoning behind taking the Chunnin exams.

An ill looking person came down and explained that his name was Hayate Gekko and he was the referee for the next part of the test. He went on to say that preliminaries had to take place first. He explained there were too many people for them to simply go on to the third test. Hayate then gave everyone a chance to quit after explaining everything. When no one quit, he said since there were twenty four people left, there would be twelve one on one matches. The fights were to be as if they were real fights against enemies. Winners would advance to the third part of the exam. "There are basically no rules. The fight continues until one of you dies or is knocked out or admits your defeat. If you don't want to die, admit defeat quickly. I'll step in if a winner has clearly been established, to avoid a pointless increase of corpses. This board will match you guys up, so let's see who the first two combatants are," He stated as he looked up to the electric board.

Everyone looked up at the board and it stopped on Sasuke Uchiha versus Yoroi Akado.

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A/N: Alright, so I've been working on this one pretty much since Wednesday I believe. I know it's a little short, but I also know that most people have read Naruto or seen it, so I really don't want to repeat everything that happens during the Forest of Death part unless the characters saw it and what not. Should I have put more happening in the forest of death? I honestly want your opinions, because I will add more to it. Alright, next up will be a chapter covering the preliminaries, there may be two depending on what I decide to make happen, but since everyone's there... There will be a brief overview of everyone's matches.

Ummm thanks for reading! And I enjoy reading about what you thought of this chapter, so please leave a review! Thanks again for reading!!!!

Kate =)


	5. Chunin Prelims

Ch. 5

Kirin walked with Itachi, Deidara and Kisame up to one of the balconies. She noticed the leaf village was on one side, and the sand and sound were on the same side as her 'team.' She leaned back against the wall with Itachi next to her. Itachi stared at Kirin as she closed her eyes, ignoring the action going on below. She glanced up to see Sasuke had won the match and was now being led away by his sensei. Itachi had said his name was Kakashi Hatake.

Kirin glanced up to see the next match was Zaku Abumi versus Shino Aburame. The three leaned against the railing to watch. Itachi whispered the information he had on each. Kisame leaned forward to tell the three that he was going to go walk around the village and see what he could dig up. Kirin watched as bugs began to crawl out of Shino's face. "Ewww," She mumbled before burying her face in Deidara's shoulder.

"Holy shit," Deidara's voice came. "His arms just fucking exploded," He whispered into Kirin's ears. Her eyes widened and she glanced down at the field.

"That's just sick," She stated as Itachi laughed quietly. She glanced up at the screen as the next two were announced. Misumi Tsurugi versus Kankuro, Kirin looked over at Kankuro. He was smirking as he made his way to the arena. Within seconds Misumi had his body wrapped around Kankuro, telling him to give up. While everyone had their eyes on the match, Kirin looked back at Gaara and felt her fists clench.

The match ended rather quickly and the next match was to begin soon. Kirin felt Itatchi tap her left shoulder, "It's your turn, finish that guy off quickly without revealing too much," He whispered. She nodded and glanced at the screen to see she was facing Kabuto Yakushi. She made her way to the center and faced Kabuto who had a smirk on his face.

"Well Keiko Maki, this should be interesting," Kabuto stated with a smirk. Kirin shrugged and frowned at how familiar his chakra felt. She shook her head telling herself to focus. They were told to begin and in no time they both had kunai knives out. Kabuto then dropped the kunai and raised his right hand. "I forfeit the match," He stated and then walked out of the arena. Kirin glared as he left but dropped it as Hayate stared after him as well.

"Keiko Maki will move on," He stated quietly as she walked back up to the balcony where her teammates waited. She walked past the sand ninja and closed her eyes slightly as she felt their eyes on her. She paused for a moment.

"Can I help you?" She stated coolly, her voice void of any emotion. She glanced to the three students and then Baki. They just stared at her in somewhat shock, most people wouldn't make comments like that to complete strangers. Gaara just glared. She shrugged and headed over to where Deidara was waving her over. Deidara grinned down at her and then patted her head.

Everyone's eyes went to the screen and saw two new names come up. Sakura Haruno versus Ino Yamanka. Kirin rolled her eyes, not interested in the least. She glanced over them as they removed their forehead protectors from their previous spots and placed them where they were meant to be. She watched as they went back and forth, it all seemed pretty evenly matched. Ino then seemed to lose it and cut off her hair and made a hand sign. After a couple more minutes the match ended as a draw.

The next match was TenTen versus Temari. Kirin watched as Temari ended it quickly. Temari threw Tenten and it all began, the bushy browed kid, Lee, caught her. He got angry and went to attack Temari, but she blocked his attack. Kirin's whole body froze when she heard Gaara's icy command that she stop wasting time with that loser.

The next match flew by. Shikamaru beat the girl from the sound. Next was Naruto versus Kiba Inuzuka, we had a pretty good idea about the jinchuriki now. Naruto won after farting. Kirin glanced up as the next two names came up. "This should be interesting," She stated softly to Itachi who nodded in agreement. They watched it blow for blow. Kirin's eyes widened as Hinata continued to stand back up. She then made a comment about Neji and the branch situation, and he would have killed her if he got to her in time. Thank goodness for the three jonin and Hayate.

Before the names were up on the board, Gaara had appeared near Hayate. Kirin's eyes drifted to him and her body tensed. She felt Deidara pull her into a hug and just closed her eyes. She felt Temari and Kankuro's eyes on her but she didn't care. "I'm going to go see if I can help that girl," She whispered as she ran down the stairs and walked out of the arena. She headed for the hospital and looked down at her shaking hands.

Itachi frowned to himself, but knew better than to follow when he and Deidara hadn't gone yet. Kirin walked into the emergency room and disguised herself as a medical ninja. She cast a genjutsu to make them drowsy and they fell to the floor. Kirin let out a sigh and walked over to Hinata who was laid out on the table. She made the appropriate hand signs and worked on healing some but not all of the damage. She knew she didn't have enough chakra, as the genjutsu began to fade she slowly backed out of the room.

She headed back around town and stopped at the ramen shop. She ordered a quick bowl of ramen and closed her eyes. She slowly walked back into the building and noticed that the winners from previous matches and Itachi were standing up there. The hokage was standing in front of them. Along with all of the proctors from each exam part. She walked to Itachi's other side and noticed Hayate change his words. "Alright now we're just missing one. As I was saying," He paused to cough. "Congratulations on passing the preliminaries. The hokage stepped forward and began to speak.

He explained that there would be a month before the final matches. He also explained that everyone would see them. He then went on to have us select a number that would match us up. Kirin and Itachi chuckled as they saw that they were to fight each other. "Should be promising," Itachi stated with a smirk. Kirin nodded with a smile.

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A/n: Sorry for the slow update. Um, hope you like it. Thanks for reading, and more review=faster update.... It's amazing how motivated I get when I see the reader's reviews. And that is in no way trying to make you feel like you have to review. Thanks again for reading! Let me know how I did.


	6. Chunin Finals and Surprises

Ch. 6

Kirin, Itachi, Deidara and Kisame had spent the month planning out what they'd do for the match, and figuring out more about the jinchuriki. They found out that it had been sealed away some time ago, and that they were being 'nosy.' Itachi was able to fill in some blanks as well. He had remembered it being the nine tailed fox, and that the kid had been shunned in the academy. Kirin had a good idea of who it was but thought it would be a little strange for their team to just leave during the finals. Not to mention it would draw unwanted attention to them by the mist village.

Kirin walked silently as she let her mind wander. She cursed herself for not paying attention when she bumped into the Sound jonin. She glanced up at him and frowned slightly. There was no point in lying, this guy was creepy. There was also no denying that he was up to something, probably a hidden agenda. She walked away without apologizing just to get turned around. "Aren't you going to apologize?" The creepy jonin asked.

"Nope," She stated as she tugged on her arm. "Now let go you creep," When he didn't make a move to let go of her wrist, she scowled. "Let. Go," She used her free hand to reach for a kunai.

"Is there a problem here?" Came a cool voice. Kirin smiled at Itachi as he glared at the sound ninja. The sound ninja released Kirin's wrist as he noticed a few others had glanced over.

"No. No problem at all," He stated before walking away.

"Thanks," She stated softly as Itachi nodded. He walked with her towards the stadium and they made their way to the center of the arena to the proctor. Naruto came in late, in a slide. Shikamaru pulled him to his feet, and Kirin was thankful that Sasuke wasn't here. She frowned as she realized Dosu wasn't in the arena either. The next thing they heard was the proctor speak up.

"Hey, knock it off. Quit your fidgeting you two. Stand up straight and present yourself proudly to the spectators," The proctor had a senbon hanging out of his mouth like a cigarette. Kirin totally ignored him after he said that and glanced around at the audience and the box seat where the Hokage was sitting. She frowned as the Kazekage walked in with two guards. Her fists clenched and she felt Itachi place his hand on her arm.

"Calm down," He whispered softly. She nodded and kept her glare on the booth the kages sat in. The hokage stood and started to speak. Do to Dosu being absent, they changed the matches just a little bit. Naruto asked about what would happen if Sasuke didn't show up, the proctor stated that the match would be forfeited if he wasn't in the stadium for his match. The proctor then went on to explain the rules were the same as before. He then went on to say he had the power to determine if matches were over, there was to be no arguing.

Naruto Uzumaki and Neji Hyuuga were fighting in the first match. Kirin, Itachi and the other combatants made their way to the waiting area which turned out to be a balcony area overlooking the arena. Kirin glanced over to the people in the stands and frowned realizing that the ANBU black ops were there. She also took note of Deidara sitting in the stands as well. "You don't think they know," She whispered to Itachi as she motioned to the ANBU. Itachi shook his head.

"No. Something else has got to be going down," He stated knowingly. Both he and Deidara had realized they felt a familiar chakra, the only difference between them and Kirin was they knew who the chakra belonged to. Kirin nodded and let out a soft sigh as she went back to watching the two who were in the first match. Kirin smiled as Naruto summoned shadow clones. She watched the match with a bit more interest than before. She felt herself groan quietly as Neji spoke of destiny and fate.

Kirin sighed as Neji went on to explain his story to Naruto. _It's sad an all. But that was no reason to attack Hinata so violently. _She smiled as Naruto refused to give up. As Neji spoke of Naruto not being able to understand what it's like to be branded with a mark that could never be wiped away she frowned. He was a jinchuriki, he knew exactly what it was like. She shook her head and looked up at the sky, and smiled sadly at seeing the clouds. She heard Naruto get announced as the winner and soon the next match was called. Her breath caught in her throat as Gaara's name was called, but her attention went straight to Itachi when Sasuke was called.

The proctor went on to say that they were jumping ahead of the match to the match that was to follow. "So, Shino and Kankuro come down," Kirin noticed Kankuro twitch slightly before glancing at Temari. Temari nodded and Kankuro spoke up.

"Proctor, I withdraw."

Temari let herself onto the field on her fan as Genma went on to call Shikamaru. Kirin stifled a giggle as Naruto shoved him over the railing. Kirin glanced down at Shikamaru who was glaring back at Naruto. Itachi glanced down as well with an amused smirk. "At least we're getting some kind of entertainment," Kirin whispered to Itachi with a smile. Temari mocked Shikamaru openly. Naruto yelled at Shikamaru prompting him get up. Kirin bit her lip as she watched Temari raise her fan to nail the ninja laying on the ground. He had managed to throw two kunai into the wall and stand on them.

Temari waved her fan, kicking up some dirt as well and Shikamaru was gone from his kunai perch. After a minute of standing and looking around Shikamaru smiled and Temari waved her fan again. Kirin sighed, this match was probably going to be long. Kirin looked up when Kankuro yelled out to his sister. Shikamaru had used his head band and jacket to make a shadow, so he could lengthen the range of his shadow possession. He managed to trap her and he made them make their way toward each other.

"Okay, that's it. I give up," Everyone in the stadium seemed to yell. Kirin laughed as Itachi shook his head. Kirin sighed realizing that her and Itachi's match would be up next, but there was a rustle of leaves and Sasuke and Kakashi had appeared. After a short talk with the proctor, it was decided their match would begin now. Kirin turned slightly and looked towards Gaara, who was smirking sadistically. Kankuro spoke up saying something about not forgetting a plan, but Temari covered his mouth. She then whispered something about getting himself killed. Kirin looked back down at Sasuke Uchiha and shivered remembering the look she had just seen in Gaara's eyes. She walked towards the way he had went for a moment but Itachi pulled her back and shook his head.

She looked down just in time to see Gaara walk onto the field. After some high speed taijutsu, Gaara had cocooned himself in a sphere of sand. When Sasuke realized attacking with taijutsu wouldn't do anything he ran up a wall and made some quick hand signs. "Are those-," Kirin began softly looking up at Itachi. He nodded solemnly. "How… Never mind, I shouldn't be surprised."

Kirin watched as he raced down the wall with the Chidori all charged up. What shocked her the most, was that it actually got through the sand barrier. She looked over to see Kankuro and Temari looked on shocked. She went back and watched as he stood with his arm in the sphere. Kirin cringed when she heard Gaara scream in agony. She looked over when Temari and Kankuro started talking quietly.

"Is that thing is taking over again?" His voice sounded worried, and slightly scared.

"I don't know. This has never happened before. I think he's hurt," Temari whispered. Her voice held worry. They both looked scared as the sand cocoon broke away. Kirin bit her lip as she noted that Gaara's shoulder was bleeding. "I was right he was hurt. The shell broke before the change was complete," Itachi frowned. Something was definitely going on. What was Orochimaru up to?

Kirin glanced around the stadium as people began to fall asleep. She frowned recognizing that a genjutsu was at work. "We have to get out of here. We're not a part of this and it's not going to do anyone any good if we hang around," Itachi whispered to her as Temari and Kankuro called out to their brother before jumping down into the fighting area. Kirin frowned but nodded.

"What about Dei," She realized after a moment or so. "He's got to be in the audience somewhere… You don't think he got caught in it do you?" She asked. Itachi frowned realizing if he did, he may have let down his guard and transformation jutsu.

"You go get Deidara. Be careful, don't let any of these ninjas too close. I'm gonna go check out a quick and easy way to leave," He stated quietly. Unlike the sand ninja, he was aware of the Aburame standing nearby. Kirin nodded and sighed, hoping she could get to Deidara, and hoping he wasn't stupid enough to be wearing his Akatsuki cloak on under his transformation. Kirin shook her head and glanced down to see Temari and Kankuro trying to talk with Gaara. Genma went and stood in front of Sasuke who was on his knees. Kirin shook her head again, she had her own things to worry about, and she couldn't worry about former acquaintances. She leapt down and made her way towards the wall that the people in the stands. She heard Genma tell Sasuke that he was basically of Chunnin status and he took it as he should go after Gaara.

Kirin glanced up to see Kisame working on fighting sound and sand shinobi near Kakashi and Gai. She saw Deidara a bit away and jumped over to him already forming the seal. "Release," She stated tapping his shoulder. "Wake up D, transform," She whispered when he woke. He transformed quickly as she walked slowly towards the pink haired girl and the senseis. "Sensei," She called quietly.

"And Kyo?" He asked referring to Itachi's fake name. Kirin smiled.

"He went to look for you," She said being vague. "He thought you would have gone out front for a smoke since you don't like smoking in the arena," Kirin pulled a kunai and deflected one of the sound ninjas' attack.

"Alright, well you two go meet him. I'll finish up here," He stated. Kirin understood immediately.

"Yes," She stated before grabbing Deidara's hand. "Let's go," Deidara nodded before taking one last glance at Kisame. Kirin's attention went up to the purple barrier when she heard the bastard's name. "Orochimaru," She mumbled the name as her eyes grew dark. Kisame's eyes widened at the same time as Deidara's.

"Rin. No," Deidara stated quietly as he gripped her hand a little tighter. "Not now," Kisame gave Kirin and Deidara a slight shove.

"Now get out of here. And tell Kyo what's been happening and that I will meet you soon," He stated with an urgent look to Deidara. Kakashi was assigning a mission to Sakura, telling her to wake Shikamaru and Naruto. Kisame quickly made his way to where the other three were waiting. "Let's get going. She saw Orochimaru," He explained quietly. Itachi nodded and took her arm. With a few quick hand signs he had transported them outside of the village. Deidara and Kisame appeared shortly after.

The four slowly made their way back to the base to report. It was one of the few times that the leader, Pein, was also in the same area. They walked in and Kirin stomped into one of the bedrooms. She was pissed and it showed. Konan frowned, "What's with her?"

"Orochimaru invaded the leaf and is starting problems," Itachi stated quietly. Pein and Konan nodded with grim looks on their faces. Konan walked to the bedroom and went to sit with Kirin while Pein talked to the other three about the jinchuriki. Kirin smiled at Konan despite her anger and was happy when Konan just let her rant it all out. She felt better shortly after and smiled at being able to hang out with the only other girl in the Akatsuki.

* * *

A/N: Alright so Happy New Year. I've been a little busy, and I had to look some stuff up. Also, I think it's going to skip around just a little more. Because I'm going to go to the time skip. Let me know what you think.... And if you think I should continue with where they're at or go on to the time skip. Thanks for reading!!!!!!

Kate


	7. Hunting Jinchuriki

Ch. 7

Kirin wasn't excited for this mission, but the leader wanted her to go with just in case Deidara got carried away and needed to be healed. She walked slowly behind Sasori and Deidara. We came up to the gate leading into Suna and I felt my breath catch. I never wanted to return here. It had been a couple of years since the Chunnin exam incident. She came to a stop as Sasori and Deidara walked up and decided to take care of the guards at the gate. Surprisingly, they didn't move a finger as one of the guards took care of the many other guards. "So I see you remember me," Sasori stated in the raspy voice he used when he was inside Hiruko. "Rin you will stay back with me as Deidara goes after the kazekage, alright?"

Kirin nodded in understanding before turning to Deidara. "At least try to be careful. And don't keep us waiting Dei," She told him softly. Deidara nodded with a cocky smirk before flying off into the hidden sand. As soon as the two heard explosions they knew the fight had begun. Sasori and I watched from where we were to wait for Dei to finish up.

We saw sand go towards the bird and realized that Gaara was indeed fighting back. Oh well, this wouldn't last long. We looked up as Deidara came back in on his clay bird. "You're late… I said not to keep me waiting," Sasori stated with a frown on his face. The three of us were about to start walk away when we heard Kankuro speak up.

"Wait, give Gaara back to me," We all looked at Kankuro and then Sasori spoke.

"You guys go on," They both nodded and headed towards the base. Sasori soon caught up with them and in no time they were standing in front of the boulder with the tag on it. The three formed the hand sign and the boulder soon moved and allowed them entrance. They tossed Gaara onto the ground as the boulder closed behind them. The leader scolded us for being late before summoning the structure needed to remove the jinchuriki.

"Assemble," Came the leader's cool, deep voice. And within seconds the 'holograms' of the other five appeared. "Kirin," He told her softly. She nodded and went and stood near the boulder to stand back and watch the jutsu. "Sealing jutsu: nine phantom dragons."

Just like that, the jutsu began. If the leader was right, it would take three days and three nights to complete. Zetsu's real body was keeping a look out and Kirin was to keep a look out around the inside. At some point during the process Team Kakashi and Team Guy had tried to come near, in response Pein had Itachi and Kisame give some pawns thirty percent of their power to delay both teams. They soon returned and the process was coming to a close. Kirin stood up and stretched out as Pein thanked the Akatsuki members and then asked Deidara, Kirin and Sasori to deal with the visitors who were outside.

The three waited patiently for the group outside to get rid of the barrier, and when it was released, Deidara took Gaara's corpse and flew off with the nine tailed brat chasing after him. Kirin was out of sight in the corner as Kakashi told Chiyo and Sakura to take care of Sasori. She remained out of sight upon Sasori's look and waited patiently as the fight began. She gasped quietly as Sasori's Hiruko was destroyed. No one had ever come close to destroying it. Kirin stared as the old woman gasped at Sasori's appearance. The real fight had just begun, unfortunately with the old woman controlling the pink haired girl, it would take longer than Sasori would have anticipated.

Sasori managed to shoot some poison mist at the pink kunoichi and Kirin thought it was over. Sakura managed to throw a kunai with an explosive tag and free herself from Sasori's hold. She then went on to threaten Sasori. She kept going on about Orochimaru, and Kirin's fists clenched. Sasori launched some kunai and Lady Chiyo summoned two puppets to protect her. Sasori seemed to have a small reaction to the puppets she had summoned. She sent the puppets after Sasori, and he regained control of the third Kazekage puppet. Kirin watched the two puppeteers go back and forth with attacks, it was too incredible to look away from. Sasori was able to use the third Kazekage's jutsu and Chiyo looked worried.

Kirin watched in awe as the fight progressed. She watched Chiyo's face change and bit her lip knowing what Chiyo was thinking about. Sasori's past was sad, and Chiyo must have felt horrible having to fight Sasori. Sakura walked over to Chiyo and asked Chiyo to use her as a puppet. They began fighting again. Kirin felt confused, Sakura should have been poisoned by now. But she seemed to be moving just fine, the only way that would make sense was if she was a medical ninja. Kirin's mind drifted towards Deidara and she hoped he hadn't done anything stupid. She went back to watching the fight as Sakura asked Chiyo if she was ready for a fight.

Kirin watched as Sasori unbuttoned his cloak, deciding on using himself. "It's been awhile indeed since I last used myself," He admitted sadistically. Kirin shuddered slightly but kept her eyes on the fight. Kirin watched in interest as he held his hands up and allowed fire to come out. "Time to die witch," Sasori growled angrily at Chiyo. Kirin gasped softly, she had never seen Sasori lose his cool before. When the fire was gone he used the scroll to blast water at the two.

He came close to slicing lady Chiyo but Sakura pulled him to her and nailed him hard in the chest, causing him to fall to pieces. Kirin gasped. _This can't be the end… It just can't be. _Her eyes began to tear up. She almost felt bad that Sakura was injured, but she heard some movement and looked up to see Sasori was reconnecting himself. She let out a small gasp but was happy that Sasori was alright.

Chiyo summoned ten puppets from one scroll, they were all in white cloaks. Her secret ten multiple jutsu Sasori had told Kirin about. Sasori pulled a scroll from his back and began to summon from the scroll. Kirin smiled to herself softly, knowing about his hundred puppets. "I used these to destroy an entire nation," Kirin bit her lip as Sasori put his hand to his head. She could tell what he was thinking. He was getting frustrated that this fight was taking so long. "Secret red move, performance of a hundred puppets."

Kirin watched the fight and gasped as puppet parts came flying past her head. She really hoped Sasori knew what he was doing. She watched as the fight continued, the old woman got cut and the fight continued. "Don't worry about me, worry about taking down Sasori," Kirin frowned at the statement, surely the old woman knew the poison would kill her soon. Kirin shouted as Sakura threw a strange white puppet ball at Sasori, but no one heard her over the shouting of Sakura.

Sasori was pinned to the wall thanks to the white puppet, head, thing. Kirin let out a soft sigh of relief as she noticed a puppet under a crimson cloak stand up. Sasori had managed to either hide amongst the puppet bodies or switch bodies. Either way she was thankful that he managed to stay free. Although when he went to stab Chiyo he ended up getting the pink witch instead. "Sasori, no," Kirin heard herself whisper. It wasn't so much about the fact that he had stabbed her but the fact that it gave the old woman a chance to do something.

As Sakura fell, she asked the old woman if she was okay. Sasori plunged the sword deeper. Chiyo asked him why he was doing this. He plunged it even deeper as Chiyo watched in horror. Sakura began to try and heal some of the blood loss but urged the old woman to take the antidote. But the woman jabbed it into Sakura's leg. Sasori prepared to stab Chiyo as well but seemingly hesitated, and it was just long enough for Chiyo to make the Mother and Father Puppets stab right through Sasori's heart. There was something formed on the ground some kind of seal. Sakura fell and Chiyo slowly pulled the katana out. She worked on healing the damage done by it as well. Sasori tried to tell Chiyo it was pointless.

Chiyo explained she was doing a special jutsu, which caught Kirin's attention it seemed similar to her family's healing jutsu. But when Chiyo explained it, she realized the difference was she wouldn't have to die to heal people like Chiyo would if she were to use this jutsu's full potential. Kirin glanced at Sasori's face and saw his expression change. Kirin wished she could move to go hug him. She could only imagine how much pain he was going through at the moment. His parents was a painful topic, and Kirin didn't blame him for what he'd become, she had no right judging anybody.

Sakura got up and thanked Chiyo. Kirin slowly inched her way into the battle field. She ended up behind the three puppets and kept her chakra masked as she leaned down. Sasori went on to talk about why he changed himself into a puppet. And how he did it so he wouldn't feel emotions and feeling any more. Kirin slowly began making hand signs. She didn't want Sasori to die, she felt she owed him. She rested her hands on the back his 'heart.' She kept her eyes on the shinobi and had to lay down with the three puppets as they fell. She kept her hands by his heart and continued the process. She slowly pulled out the weapons and kept the healing process working and dug through her kunai pouch for a vile of the antidote.

Sasori had made it just in case she was to get hit by one of his weapons. Or if Deidara was foolish enough to interfere. She stabbed it into his heart and moved had that work as she pulled another puppet over to throw the crimson cloak over. She pulled the body he was in over to where his original body was and managed to get it free. She kept a firm hold on both as she formed the hand sign and poofed away. Her mind drifted to Dei and hoped he was alright.

* * *

A/n: Alright, so I'm sorry about not getting this out sooner. School's been trying to kill me... Okay maybe not kill, but it currently is kicking my butt! The next chapter will have more than just Sasori but I figured this was an important landmark for Gaara... Let me know what you think! Thanks for reading.


	8. Going Back Where It All Began

Ch. 8

Kirin woke up to a loud crash of thunder outside one of the many Akatsuki bases. She frowned as she sat up and wiped her eyes. It had been about a week since the successful jinchuriki removal, and they were all meeting at the same base for once. She sighed realizing there was no way she was going to fall back asleep, and headed to a bathroom to take a shower. As the hot water hit her body, her mind wandered to whether or not everyone was at the base yet. She also felt herself pout as her mind wandered to Sasori who had requested she tell everyone he had died, because he was getting tired of the Akatsuki life style. Zetsu had brought home some idiot named Tobi, who seemed to know more than he let on.

She walked into the living room area to find Hidan sitting there flipping through a magazine, looking board out of his mind. She smiled happily and walked over to him, "Hi Hidan," He looked up at her before glancing at the clock and laughing slightly.

"Shouldn't you be asleep? It's fucking one in the morning," Kirin smiled at the tone in his voice. It told her that he had missed her just as much as she missed him. He tossed the magazine on the table and patted the spot next to him. Kirin smiled and walked over and sat next to him, leaning into his side. "Kakuzu still wants to know how a smart bitch like you went for the airhead," He stated gesturing to himself with a frown.

"Kakuzu should stop with that shit. He'll be lucky if anyone goes for him… He's like ninety and has more than one heart, all of which were not his," She stated with a roll of her eyes. Hidan smirked at her statement and let his thoughts run wild.

"I still think you should convert," He told her taking one of her hands in both of his. "Jashinism would be such a good religion for you," He stated looking into her blue eyes. She laughed at the determined look in his eyes. He pouted at her laugh, and she yawned and laid against his shoulder. He went to ask her why she got so quiet and chuckled quietly when he found her to be asleep. He sighed and considered bringing her to her room, but realized that moving around too much would wake her up. He changed his position so he was laying and she was laying against him with her head rested on his chest. After awhile of holding her, he soon fell asleep as well.

"Why am I not surprised that this is where we found them?" Kirin woke up to Kisame stating, she could hear the amusement in his voice.

"Because whenever Hidan is around, they're attached at the hip," Itachi stated. Although Kirin could hear the slight irritation behind it. He had always been over protective of her. She wiped her eyes and pushed herself up into a sitting position. "Kirin," He greeted with a nod. She smiled half-heartedly.

"You should relax Itachi, you know we're just good friends now," Kirin told him with a slight yawn. Itachi nodded with a suspicious look on his face. "So what's the next mission?"

"Pein wants to talk to you about that. He said something about a solo, information gaining mission," Itatchi stated solemnly. Kirin nodded and headed towards Pein's study, she let out a deep sigh before knocking.

"Come in," Came Pein's cool and collected voice. Kirin walked in and smiled at Konan before taking a seat in front of him. Konan sat on the edge of his desk and she watched the two intently. "I want you to go undercover, to the sand… To gather information," He added when Kirin glanced at him with a confused look. She sighed and nodded before asking the question that had her worried the most.

"How long?" Pein looked up and actually looked sad.

"At least a year, possibly longer. You will be missed," Kirin nodded and stood immediately.

"I'm going to go pack," She quickly ran to her room and closed her eyes. She wasn't going to cry. It needed to be done, and apparently she was the only one who could do it. She started grabbing essentials and any scrolls that contained her important belongings. She walked down toward the main room to say goodbye to the rest of the Akatsuki. She wasn't shocked to see all of them sitting there. Hidan looked pissed off, everyone else looked slightly sad. "Well, I guess this is goodbye," Before the last word left her mouth, Deidara had ran up and had his arms wrapped around her in a hug. "I'll write often," She laughed to try and ease the pain.

"We'll miss you too," Deidara whispered as they nodded. "Well Kakuzu might not… He likes that we won't cost as much now," Kirin rolled her eyes and walked around to hug everyone else goodbye. She started with Pein.

"Thank you… For listening to Itachi and Kisame and allowing me to stay with you guys. And teaching me the ways of shinobi," He nodded and ruffled her hair. She took a step to the side and hugged Konan. "Thank you for keeping me sane while stuck with these guys," Konan nodded and tucked a crimson red paper flower in her hair. Kirin smiled and reached up to touch it slightly before moving on to Zetsu. They really weren't close but she would miss the creepy plant man. She shook his hand and waved at Tobi. She looked at Deidara and spoke softly. "Thanks for being one of the first ones to make friends with me… And for all of the fun art lessons," Deidara nodded as his eyes watered.

She nodded at Kakuzu and then walked over to Kisame. "Thank you. Thank you for everything," She didn't know what else to say to him as she hugged him lightly. She then stepped in front of Itachi. Her façade fell, and tears started falling. "Thank you for everything. Thank you for stepping up into a big brother role. I… I'm going to miss you a lot," She whispered. Itachi gave her a small smile before hugging her tight. She wiped her tears away and kisses his cheek before walking over to Hidan last. "Don't be mad Hidan… It needs to be done," She reached up and rested her hand on his cheek. "You're basically my best friend… I promise to write to you frequently. You mean a lot to me… I don't want to lose you… I've lost a best friend before… It's not the best feeling in the world," She whispered as he nodded. Hidan pulled her into a tight hug before pulling off his pendent. Kirin's eyes widened and he just gave her the same cocky smirk he always had.

"I'll get another one… But if I give you this, it means you have to come see me to return it," He told her with a confident tone in his voice. She nodded as he slowly placed it over her head. He leaned in and whispered in her ear, "I'm going to miss you."

Kirin gave a weak smile and hugged him tight. "I'll write soon," She managed to get out before walking away to hide the fact that she was crying hard. She wiped her eyes and pulled off her Akatsuki cloak, placing it into her bag. She slowly walked towards the village that had thrown her out. She couldn't believe she was going back to the place where it all began.

* * *

A/N I apologize for the wait... School has been crazy. I've also been a little writer blocked for everything. The only thing that has been on my mind is what's going to happen in my friend's story, Lies From Within. But she hasn't updated in awhile... Oh well... I also seem to like twisted stories... I completely fell in love with October Ashes' story Dark Reflections. Anyway thanks for reading and let me know what you think.


	9. Finding Out Crucial Details

Heartless

Chapter 9

It had been a couple of weeks since Kirin had made it into Sunagakure. She had planted her paperwork and laid low. She was currently walking into the Kazekage tower to learn about what the Kazekage wanted to see her for. After the short walk to his office, she knocked on the door. "Come in," Came the cool, calm and collected voice of the current kazekage. She took a quick breath and walked in.

"You wanted to see me, Lord Kazekage?" Kirin bowed slightly in a polite greeting. She could feel four sets of eyes on her, and glanced around taking a quick note of the three extra people in the room. Temari, Kankuro and Matsuri were watching her as they did their current tasks. Gaara looked up from the paperwork on his desk and made eye contact with Kirin.

"Yes. I haven't received the mission report from your last mission, Hikari," He stated as he looked into her blue eyes. His frown firm, his voice cold.

Kirin resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him. She forced herself to shiver like most Suna shinobi and citizens would despite knowing he wasn't the same ninja he was a few years ago. "I…I'm sorry lord Kazekage," She stuttered slightly. She glanced down at her sandals as if she was ashamed and slightly frightened.

"Please look at me when I speak with you," Gaara stated, the cold tone in his voice lightening up a little bit. Kirin looked up and nodded.

"Sorry sir," She mumbled. "The report will be on your desk by tomorrow morning," She stated. He nodded and she slowly made her way out of the door. She closed it behind her and quickly made her way down the hall. She quickly made a shadow clone and sent the clone out the front door and passing everyone in town. She knocked out one of the people working in the tower and stashed him in a nearby closet and took on his form.

She made her way down to the file room and quietly started her snooping. First into future missions, she smirked when she realized it would be even easier to snoop the next day when Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro would be traveling to Konoha for a meeting with the Hokage, to plan the next Chunin exam. She made her leave after freeing the worker and sitting him against the wall. She had a feeling he wasn't going to remember being knocked out from behind. She quickly made her way back to her apartment and made her shadow clone disappear.

* * *

A day later, Kirin found herself back in the file room. She had found all the information she needed for her 'family' and now she was looking into past cases and missions. She dug through files and stopped when she saw the last name, Makoto. She felt her body tense up. She pulled the folder out and started reading through it. She felt her anger rise when she noticed her file had the word deceased stamped across her picture. She shook her head and took a deep breath. This folder would have all the information they had about her family's murder.

She flipped through the folder until she got to the case, and slowly read through the pages. It labeled her parents and brother as murdered. They were murdered by Orochimaru. There were notes claiming that they wouldn't give something up and that was why they ended up murdered. The item's name was crossed out and the file was too old to be able to find a way around it. She flipped the next page and frowned at the ripped page. She went over to the door to the top secret files. Only top level ninja were allowed in the room. She managed to make her way into the room and started snooping around.

After about an hour she managed to find the missing page. She felt her face pale and clenched her fist tightly around the paper. The Kazekage had lead Orochimaru to believe that her family had whatever it was that he wanted. And also gave all the information on their kekke genkai, which lead Orochimaru into wanting her brother to join him.

She remembered him telling her to hide and putting a genjutsu on her so the snake bastard couldn't find her. She then watched her older brother lose his life for refusing to join Orochimaru. And then Orochimaru placed some sort of seal on his neck and as he fell to the floor in pain he swore out loud that he would never join the man.

She felt herself shudder at the words she remembered coming out of Orochimaru's mouth next. _"That's fine. It just means I'll have to find your sister after you die,"_ His tone was sadistic, and she had nightmares about the smile on his face for years. She shook her head and wiped at her tears. Her brother had gone on to gauge his eyes out with kunais to make sure that if he did die, there was no way Orochimaru would be able to come back for them.

Kirin let out a shaky breath and tucked the page into her pouch. She put everything back where she found it and snuck out of the file room. She made her way up to Gaara's office to double check that there weren't any important notices of any sort hidden in his desk. She rolled her eyes when she saw Matsuri asleep at his desk. Baki was laying on the couch against the wall, snoring. She took a quick look around before climbing out the window and heading back to her apartment.

Once she got back, she quickly wrote about all of her findings. She summoned a crow to take her findings to Itachi and quickly sent it off. She quickly went to sit on her bed. She wasn't sure how much longer she could take this. Especially after finding out this new piece of information. She reached into her bag and pulled out the necklace that Hiden had given her. She felt her chest tighten again as more tears fell down her cheeks.

To think that most of her pain and heartache could have been avoided if she had completely stayed away from Gaara no Sabaku.

* * *

A/n: I know it's been awhile, and I know this is slightly short. But I need to get back into the hang of things. I'd like to give a special thanks to Lumi yoshinigama for her review. I felt like no one read this story, and that I wasn't doing very well. Thanks for the reviews, hopefully the story is still interesting. And like I said, special thanks to Lumi yoshinigama for her review and reminding me that I have a story to finish. Hopefully this chapter was decent and I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things.

Also I'd just like to throw out a warning that I do have a job, and I am going to be starting college full time next week. So as much as I'd love to keep a regular update schedule, it's not going to happen. Thank you for being understanding. Plus I've found that if I force myself to write, it comes out much worse than when it comes to me naturally or when I want to write. Once again thanks for reading, and let me know how I did.


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